More NASA Letters

Discovering another galaxy accomplishes nothing in the overall scheme of things on Earth. Nor will understanding the birth of the stars and planets. While pursuing these endeavors, we have poisoned our rivers, ravaged our sea life, demolished our forests, caused the extinction of countless species, contaminated our atmosphere and allowed unknown millions die of starvation.


It is true that NASA produces advanced technologies, but I for one can live without Velcro. What's more, I can do without my tax dollars supporting a gigantic intellectual hobby while our one and only Earth is ruined.


Nine hundred eighty six million people here on Earth are without adequate and/or clean water, 2.3 billion people live without proper sanitation, and 2 of every 3 children are malnourished. Let's put Earth first and worry about the Big Bang later. That information is not going to degenerate, but our planet will.


John Pierce
Rochester Hills, MI




In order to re-vamp Americans' interest in the space program, NASA needs to re-focus their primary objectives towards sending a man to Mars, creating a new and improved space shuttle, and focusing more intently on national security. At the moment it seems like they have too many eggs in one basket. They're also burdened by the job of running a taxi service to the space station. Why not let private companies take care of so they can get going with a manned Mars mission?


Sarah Bacon



I am finishing up my Master's in education technology. Much of my graduate work centers on bringing space studies back to the K-12 school curriculum. Our children have little interest in science and space studies, and this has translated into a fall in high school standardized test scores for science. What's more, about forty percent of graduate degree programs earned in the United States in science and engineering are awarded to non-US citizens.


The failure of NASA to bring a vision to our nation is a double edge sword. First, this lack of vision inhibits future adults from developing a vested interest in space. Second, if the next generation of adults has little interest in space, they will not support, financially and morally, organizations such as NASA. If this trend continues NASA could someday find itself closed and out of business.


Anyone with common sense knows that part of the future of our species lies in space. The depletion of natural resources and the overpopulation of our planet demands we move beyond Earth and find new resources. It is also clear that other countries such as China have not taken space exploration for granted. Americans may one day watch a man land on Mars and see a flag other than their own planted on Martian soil.


A manned mission to Mars will cost money and perhaps lives, but this will be a fraction of what our Nation spends on such things as sports and entertainment. Surely our future in space is more important that a few Monday night football games.


Jeffrey W. Scott
Ramstein Air Base, Germany




I was a kid when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, and uttered that famous phrase. To me it gave hope in a time of turmoil. But NASA put the reins on their vision as fast as they organized a trip to the moon. If Columbus had worried about the challenges of crossing the Atlantic, where would we be today? If we are willing to reach for the stars, then we as a society have to be willing to except the sacrifices.


Charles Hargrave
Moapa, NV




I am glad to see Popular Science still promotes a dynamic and visionary space program. I have a treasured scrapbook full of Wernher von Braun's wonderful Popular Science articles from the 1960's and 1970's in which he outlined a step-by-step program for building a "stairway to the stars." Unfortunately, the imperatives of the Cold War called for a quick moon landing and sacrificed his wise plan.


It is apparent that space exploration cannot thrive without space exploitation. Apollo took us to just six small landing sites on the moon, which has a surface area roughly equivalent to Africa. Potential lunar resources include Helium 3 reserves that could end our dependence on fossil fuels, and ice deposits that could foster a prototype Martian station. It might also be possible to build a lunar space observatory on the moon's far side to pinpoint asteroids and comets that pose a threat to Earth. Such valuable lunar opportunities beg that we return!


Jim McDade
Vestavia Hills, AL




I have been a supporter of NASA ever since I watched the first moon landing. I still am but I find my interest lagging because of a lack of information. Here are a few ideas to rectify the situation:


1. A monthly show to inform people about the importance and benefits of the shuttle experiment, discoveries from the Hubble telescope, and the like. To this day I do not know what we found out about the moon.
2. Explore deep space with both manned and unmanned missions
3. Spend money on marketing and publicity. I can best illustrate this by the following question: If you couldn't watch a single baseball game all summer long, how interested would you be in the World Series?
4. Create a webcam for the space station and Hubble Telescope.
5. Designate landing sights on the moon as historic sights.

To maintain public support, NASA must keep people interested, and to keep people interested, NASA must keep the space program in their face as much as possible.

Aron Olof Adler
Falmouth, ME